Sports

Emery's basketball honours pile up

Having moved away from North Bay on her own to attend college in Oshawa, and with her family having also relocated to the Vancouver area, Erin Emery counts herself fortunate to have found comfort on the basketball court.

And in four seasons at Durham College, she has become one of the OCAA's all-time leading scorers.

Emery, a graduate of St. Joseph-Scollard Hall, is wrapping up her fourth year at Durham, finishing up a two-year emergency communications program this month after previously completing a two-year firefighter course.

Along the way, she has made a significant mark on the basketball court, earning three OCAA all-star berths, three Durham women's basketball MVP awards and two CCAA Academic all-Canadian nods. She topped off her fourth season by claiming Durham's Bonnie Ginter-Brown Leadership Award for exemplary leadership.

She also made her way into the Top-10 in OCAA career scoring during the season, bringing her career total to 772 points in the final game this winter. She led Durham in scoring in three of four seasons, including a career-best 15.56 points-per-game in 2009-10, when she was sixth in the 16-team OCAA.

She credits her teammates for any individual accolades gained the past few years.

"As much as the girls were close when I was at Scollard, I've been fortunate here that there's a real family atmosphere with the team," Emery said.

"We spend a lot of time together and these are the girls I see every day. Since I came here alone and a lot of my friends are still in North Bay and my family is in Vancouver, it was really important to me to have that here."

Basketball was also an important part of Emery's life at St. Joseph-Scollard Hall, where she graduated in 2007.

She was part of a close group of friends that went out as NDA senior champions in their final season playing for coach Jim Davidson, dedicating the win to former teammate Melanie Savord, who had died in a traffic accident a year earlier.

Emery still has many close friends in North Bay, where she returns for regular visits, and she cherishes her memories playing basketball with the Bears.

Well-prepared

"I loved basketball at Scollard and it helped me prepare," she said of moving on to OCAA basketball in 2007-08. "My first year here was a rebuilding year for the team, so I was able to get a lot of floor time to get comfortable."

She began evolving into a team leader even in first season, winning the team's rookie of the year award and tying for the team lead in scoring at 12.7 points per game.

"The calibre was a lot different than what we played in high school, but even from my first season here (at Durham) to my fourth season, the competition did get a lot better throughout the league," she said. "It was definitely a huge change."

The five-foot-six Emery spent her first three seasons at Durham playing as a forward, but moved back to the shooting guard position this past season, the same position she played with the Bears.

"I really had to work to develop my skills," said Emery, who has spent the past three summers working at Durham's youth basketball camps. "This year, I really had to step up my game.

"It (competing in the OCAA) is something you have to keep working at. Being one of the team's leaders also definitely helped me improve, just by being a role model in all aspects of the game."

Emery is also proud the team has improved the past few seasons, from a 3-11 record in 2008-09 to 9-7 a year ago to 15-5 this season.

While she's finished up her program, her OCAA basketball playing days might not be over yet. With a year of eligibility remaining, she is still waiting on acceptance to a grad program.

Third all-time at Durham with 772 career points, behind Bonnie Slaughter (886) and Julie Goedhuis (816), Emery could wind up as Durham's all-time leading scorer with one more season on the court.